Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Thursday said he will visit the landslide site in Kinnaur today.
The CM said that the rescue operation was halted last night. It resumed in the early morning today and is currently underway.
"Till now 13 bodies have been recovered from the landslide site in Himachal Pradesh's Kinnaur. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and state police teams are engaged in search and rescue operations at the Kinnaur landslide site," said CM Thakur.
Thakur further said that the number of passengers travelling on the bus buried under debris is still not confirmed.
"We still don't know the total number of passengers who were travelling on the bus. The bus is still buried under debris. If the weather permits, Army will deploy its chopper for the rescue operation. I plan to visit the landslide site in Kinnaur today," Thakur added.
A 30-seater Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) bus, a truck and four cars were among the vehicles that came under the rubble, as the landslide hit the Reckong Peo-Shimla Highway around noon on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each to the next of kin of those who were killed and Rs 50,000 for those injured in the tragedy.
( With inputs from ANI )
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